A Dragon's Tale Ch. 34

"I wouldn't take it personally." Selene said. "I've noticed that he's doing the whole 'dragon thing' a bit more often lately."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

Kendra frowned, then looked up as something caught her eye. Taloni had jumped off the Argo and was floating down to the ground, her beautiful wings a blur as they moved.

"Now Kendra, may I please point something out?" The Fey teen asked.

"Sure." She shrugged.

Taloni smiled mischievously. "You trust Ethan more than you realize."

"Oh?"

The Fey nodded. "You asked him to kill you and bring you back to break the bond. But I bet it never occurred to you that hewouldn't bring you back."

Kendra stared.

She cocked her head to one side.

Huh.

"You trust him so much that you never considered that he might not save you after killing you." Taloni continued. "Doesn't that say something?"

"She's got a point." Selene said. "And he let you sail off with a crap-ton of dragon scales without ever considering that you might not bring them back." Selene said, then added at the dragon huntress's confused look. "Taloni pointed that out just after you left the Argo. Apparently you two trust each other rather a lot."

Kendra inclined her head in concession, not able to disagree.

Wow.

Taloni and Selene were right. Absolutely and totally right. It had literally never even occurred to the dragon huntress that Ethan might not bring her back from the dead. At no point did it enter into her planning or consideration. Ever. It was strange; she'd fought for years with many squad mates and yet never trusted them as much as she trusted Ethan.

Well, one. But he had always been like a brother to her and he was no longer among the living. She reached up and touched her dragon tooth necklace through her shirt. The largest tooth on that necklace belonged to the dragon who'd killed him. As she felt the shirt, she felt the holes that had accumulated with repeated lightning strikes. The shirt's self-repairing enchantment wasn't healing them either, probably because the fabric had been vaporized.

"I'm going to need a new shirt." She said aloud.

"And the award for the most random comment goes to..." Selene chuckled.

"You do trust master, don't you?" Taloni said.

Kendra hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I guess I do."

"Good." The Fey replied brightly. "Then we should go see Alana about making you a dress. I just need to make sure: what's your favorite color?"

"Amethyst." She replied, though the rest of what she'd said made no sense. "But a dress? Why a dress? They're a lot harder to move and fight in."

"Because all of Ethan's wives have a dress with a different color." Taloni said like it was obvious. "We wouldn't want you to be left out."

Beside her, Selene was trying very hard to conceal what looked like a massive smile of amusement. Her hand covered her mouth and she was shaking slightly in suppressed laughter.

Kendra shot her a look. "Careful; just about every unmarried woman in Ethan's orbit seems to end up marrying him eventually. If you're not careful, you'll be next."

Taloni giggled.

Selene shook her head as she laughed. "Sorry, not a chance in hell I'd marry a guy who sleeps with other women. Not happening."

Kendra shrugged, but couldn't help noticing the look of amusement on Taloni's face. "What?"

"Speaking as the only married woman here, it's not so bad that he has other wives." She with a confident but slightly embarrassed smile, then went slightly red as she added. "And sleeping with other women isn't so bad either."

"Yeah, I couldn't do it." The Brazilian woman said, then clarified. "Either of those things."

The Fey teen had a sly grin on her face. "You probably could; you might even..." She cleared her throat. "...enjoy 'it' with his other wives." She blushed scarlet.

"I don't swing both ways." Selene said firmly.

"Oh well, your loss." Taloni said, then turned to Kendra. "Come on, I want to see Alana about a dress for you."

Kendra hesitated, then an idea occurred to her. This might actually work in her favor, if she was willing to tolerate wearing a dress. "I'd have to stay on the Argo for a few days while she made it."

"Of course silly; that's half the point!" Taloni beamed.

"And I'd have to ask Ethan if that's okay." Kendra said.

Taloni waved her hand dismissively and then her eyes went a bit unfocused for a moment. It was an expression that Kendra was quite familiar with since being imprisoned with Ethan and his wives; Taloni was talking to him, or maybe all of them. It briefly occurred to Kendra that she could ease her mental barrier a bit and hear the conversation, but she resisted. It was awfully tempting though.

Hmm.

A few moments later, the Fey teen looked at the dragon huntress. "He says it's fine, and Alana would be happy to make a dress for you, and says she'll grab the measurements as soon as we return to the Argo."

"Thank you." Kendra replied feeling relieved. She knew that Ethan had granted her an invitation to visit, but she had been a bit worried that he might not let her stay anyway.

She glanced at Selene. "Well, I suppose we're going to be roommates. Well, for a few days anyway."

* * *

Sarah finished stirring the dinner pot in the inn's kitchen, still not able to get over what Lady Ekthros had said -- or rather not said -- about Ethan out of her head. The older woman hadn't really given anything away, nor even said anything bad about Ethan, but Sarah couldn't shake the impression that the lady knew something about Ethan; something that wasn't good. But as she thought back to her meeting with him, she couldn't imagine what it could be.

She didn't know what to think.

Ethan, Selene, and Lady Ekthros -- not to mention Ethan's wives -- were among the nicest people she'd ever met. She had a hard time believing that any of them could be less than wonderful people.

She resolved to put it out of her mind and focus on dinner. There were several people at the inn, which was a welcome relief since she knew the inn must be low on coin. She had never seen the books, and couldn't read even if she had, but she could tell by her father's stress levels.

Out of the kitchen window, she saw several horses riding into the outpost, which was unusual at this hour. It was past dark.

Hmm.

They were riding in fast, though she couldn't quite tell how many there were or what they were wearing. Judging by the sounds, they rode around to the front of the inn and stopped. She walked out to the front room, rather excited to have several more visitors. Her father would be so pleased.

Then the door opened.

A half dozen soldiers piled in with swords drawn, all wearing surcoats with Lord Farbrottan's sigil. That's when Sarah remembered. The instructions that Lord Farbrottan had left for his men said they had to report in every week. It had been eight days, and these soldiers were surely coming to see why they hadn't reported in.

"Freeze." One of them shouted, pointing his sword at her.

Oddly, she didn't feel very afraid. She knew that they couldn't hurt her. Her father had just gone to Rindrin's to get something since they rarely got new visitors this late. He would know better than to re-enter the inn with soldiers there. They probably wouldn't hurt the guests since they hadn't last time, and there was no one else in danger. She had known this was coming, and while she wished it didn't need to be this way, it was happening in the best way possible.

At least no one else would get hurt.

"Excuse me!" Lady Ekthros stood up to her full height and looked down on them regally. "I am Lady Ekthros, advisor to Lord Delmar. I demand to know the meaning of this."

"Keep your fuckin' mouth shut bitch." The lead soldier said. "I don't give a flyin' fuck who you are. Get out of the way; we're here for the girl." He pointed his drawn sword at Sarah.

The innkeeper's daughter put her hands up and let her head droop.

"Under the conditions of the alliance between our two lands, I demand that you surrender the girl into my custody." The auburn-haired woman continued.

"You're trying to protect her huh?" The lead soldier sneered. "Fine, then you're coming too."

He started forward with his sword raised, and Sarah saw actual fear on Lady Ekthros' face for the first time. The older woman swallowed hard and raised her hands as well. The soldier started forward with two sets of manacles, roughly forced the lady's arms together and shackled her, then started towards Sarah.

"You ain't gonna give me no trouble are you?" He said, emphasizing his sword point.

She shook her head.

A minute later, the two women had been forced to mount horses, their manacles attached to a ring in the saddlehorn so they couldn't jump off.

"I'm sorry." Sarah said to Lady Ekthros.

The older woman opened her mouth to reply, when--

Wham!

Someone backhanded Sarah from out of the blue.

"No talking!" He barked, and then then they started off.

The innkeeper's daughter took a last look behind at the inn which had been her home for her entire life. She had no idea what was coming, and was sorry that Lady Ekthros had gotten dragged into it. However, she did feel better knowing that the strong woman would be with her. She said a silent prayer of thanks to Illuminar for bringing her into her life.

* * *

"All done."

Kendra smiled at Alana, who had just finished measuring her for a dress in the lower decks, after adding a patch to the inside of her shirt so she wasn't showing so much skin.

"Thank you; thank you very much." The raven haired woman said, and she meant it

"You're welcome." The wood elf said brightly. "Any special requests for your dress?"

"Um, I need to be able to fight in it, preferably at a moment's notice." She said, then cocked her head to one side and considered what people might say if they could see her left arm. "And could you make it long sleeved?"

"Hmm." She cocked her head to one side with a thoughtful frown. "That'll take some design work; I should bring Rachel in on this."

"I appreciate it." The dragon huntress said, and she meant it. She had literally never experienced this level of hospitality from anyone. Ever. Much less from people who she'd tried to kill. Well, she hadn't tried to kill Alana, but she had attacked her.

Which reminded her...

"Um, Alana." She said, not quite meeting the wood elf's eye.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for attacking you, back outside Havorleth's lair."

"I forgive you." She said with a smile that was as comforting as it was genuinely kind. "You saved Taloni when you didn't have to, and I wasn't seriously or permanently hurt. No harm done. I'd actually forgotten about that."

"Again, thank you."

"Don't worry about it. Now come on, I think dinner will be ready soon."

They went up to the weather deck and joined the others around the dinner fire. They had started eating after dark since Anthiel hadn't even started dinner until Ethan and Kendra had returned from their attempt to break the bond.

Kendra noticed that Ethan seemed to be in a particularly foul and dragonish mood throughout dinner. His breaths occasionally came out as something between a growl and a snarl, though they weren't directed at anyone in particular. The dark cloud he cast seemed to affect everyone, and dinner wasn't the same cheery affair that it was the night she'd returned him and his wives to the Argo.

Despite that, it was still nice.

The Fey girl was sitting next to her and occasionally leaning affectionately on her arm. It was a simple gesture of kindness and companionship that Kendra had literally never felt before, but enjoyed immensely. She could even feel her eyes threatened to get slightly moist occasionally.

"I'm so glad you like it here." Taloni said, looking up at her with her lovely lilac eyes.

"How could you tell?" Kendra asked

Selene chuckled. "I'm not sure if you've realized it or not, but you let out a contented sigh every few minutes."

"I do?"

"Yes." Alana, Beth, and Taloni said at the same time.

"They're not wrong." Rachel added with an amused grin.

Even Ethan cracked a grin.

"Hmm." Kendra nodded, then took another bite of the biscuits and gravy that Anthiel had made. She couldn't believe that she'd let her guard down that much. Had she really become that careless with hiding her emotions?

"Kendra, you don't have to be so guarded here; you're among friends." Taloni said with a kind smile.

"Old habits." She shrugged.

"Old doesn't mean good." Rachel pointed out.

"They've kept me alive for a long time."

"But I'd wager they've also kept you alone." Ethan said, his dragon-ish mood seeming to abate slightly. "It doesn't matter how many people are around, if you can't share yourself with them, you'll always feel lonely."

"You're not wrong." Kendra admitted.

"That's why you need to stay on the Argo; you can trust everyone here." Taloni said confidently, then frowned. "Except for maybe Raklan."

The burly crewman grunted. He looked like he was going to say something, but Serif shook his head subtly and he went back to wolfing down his food.

Serif.

Kendra shook her head at the improbability of meeting him here of all places. She suppose it made sense that the owner of The Bank would seek him out for his skill. It made even more sense that Lord Borden would send him with Ethan to protect his daughter. It made sense, but she still couldn't believe she had metthe Serif.

"How long were you planning to stay?" Alana asked. "After I finish your dress that is."

"Um..." She looked around, not sure how to respond. She wanted to say 'forever', or something like that. However, she wasn't sure how Ethan would react if she did, especially with how dragon-ish he was being this evening.

"Do I have the option to stay longer?" The dragon huntress finally replied. "I mean, originally I was only going to return the weapons and then leave, so..."

Everyone looked at Ethan.

"How long did you want to stay?" He asked, though she couldn't get a read on how he meant it.

She opened her mouth to reply, but Taloni spoke before she could get a word out. "Please be honest Kendra; I know you like to deflect, but you really don't need to." The Fey held her gaze for a moment, then repeated the question. "How long do youreally want to stay on the Argo?"

"I... I don't know." She admitted.

"Oh?" Ethan set his plate down and turned his attention entirely on her. For some reason, his dragonish mood seemed to have dissipated slightly.

"Yeah." Kendra nodded, then looked down.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because..." She hesitated, not sure how much to reveal.

"You can be honest Kendra." Taloni reminded her.

"Because..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "... because I don't feel lonely here. I don't remember the last time that I didn't feel alone." She hesitated. "Okay, that's not true; it was the last time I was on the Argo. I think the time before that was when I was a little girl."

All of Ethan's wives and Selene all got similar looks of sympathy. Taloni turned to give her a brief hug.

"Yeah." Ethan nodded his head very slowly as he seemed to consider. "Yeah, being lonely is no fun."

"No, no it's not." She said quietly.

No one said anything for several moments.

"Can..." She glanced at Ethan, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. When she spoke, it was slightly haltingly, and she forced every word out, scared out of her mind that he would say no. "Can I stay a bit longer after Alana finishes the dress? Would that be okay?"

Ethan also took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He scrutinized her for several seconds, his expression giving nothing away.

Kendra tried very hard not to wait with bated breath. She tried even harder not to shiver in both worry and fear about being rejected. It was rather incredible how much she felt like her happiness depended on what he said next. She absolutely hated that, but there was nothing for it. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so vulnerable.

Ethan looked at his wives, and they all looked at him. She knew they were talking telepathically, and guessed that Ethan had asked them all what they thought. She couldn't resist lowering her mental walls enough to hear what they were saying.

*--would love that master.*

*We know Tee.* Beth replied with amusement all over her tone. *I wouldn't mind Dominus. I don't know her well at all, but she saved Taloni and Anthiel, and she helped you guys escape. I don't think she'd hurt any of us, and she might benefit from being here. Maybe we could help her.*

*I had a short talk with her earlier and I also think she'd really benefit from being here.* Rachel added. *If she was going to harm you, she would've done it already. Plus, she is a dragon huntress; she might be able to help with Lord Delmar and the black dragon if she stays long enough. Even if she doesn't, I'm sure she could give us some advice. I would seriously consider it.*

*Alana, thoughts?* Ethan thought to everyone.

*I'd like to help her if we can.* The wood elf replied. *She has seemed really lonely in the past, but she seems better when she's here. However, right now my primary concern is you. Is having her around going to make your dragon side worse?*

*It shouldn't.* He replied. *Honestly, my dragon side is getting worse anyway, and I don't think it matters how far away she is.*

Kendra resisted reacting at this information, but barely.

*Master, there's an easy way to solve that...* Taloni replied both sweetly and mischievously.

*I'm pretty sure she'd never consider that an option.* He replied. *I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect either, and there's no way in hell I'd ask.*

Kendra took another bite of her food, partially to hide her burgeoning curiosity. How could she be the solution to his dragon problem? She thought about it for a few moments before realizing it must have something to do with them being bonded. That would explain why Ethan seemed so excited to break their bond earlier in the day, and so disappointed when it hadn't worked. However, she still had no clue what the solution that they were thinking of entailed.

"Kendra." Ethan said after a moment. "I'm okay with you staying on the Argo for a while, and my other wives are too."

"Thank you." She let out a sigh of relief, and didn't even bother trying to conceal it.

She could stay.

She didn't know for how long, but she could stay. She felt the corners of her mouth curve upwards just slightly. She could look forward to this tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after that. He was willing to let her stay even after everything that she'd done. She looked around as the general chatter around dinner picked up. Ethan's foul mood seemed to have abated and everyone was making up for lost conversation.

She didn't say anything.

She just watched and listened.

She could stay.

They were okay with her being there. They were accepting her, even after everything that she'd done to them.

They were still letting her stay.

She didn't know for how long, and she dreaded the thought of leaving, but she didn't want to think about that right now. Her heart felt like it might lift her off the decking it was so full.

She could stay.

"Are you okay?" Selene -- who was sitting on her other side -- whispered.

"I'm good." Kendra whispered back, and realized that it was true.

Right now, shewas good.

Suddenly, her eyes got rather watery and the moisture was threatening to overflow and come down her cheeks. The dragon huntress pulled the leather string from her jet-black hair so it fell loose, letting her hair down on the Argo for the first time. Then tipped her head forward so her hair partially concealed her face.